The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) and the German Student Union (DSW) are awarding the prize for student commitment for the ninth time, which they jointly launched eight years ago. The prize money amounts to 5,000 euros and is donated by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. The DHV and DSW want to award the prize to the student or team of students who demonstrate an outstanding commitment that goes beyond their academic achievements and should be innovative and as unique as possible. There is no restriction on the way in which this is achieved. The prize will be awarded on March 25, 2024 at the "Gala of German Science" in Berlin.
"There are a pleasing number of the 2.9 million students who, in addition to their studies, are also involved on a voluntary basis in the state and society, politics and associations and are committed to our community," explained DHV President Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Lambert T. Koch and DSW President Professor Dr. Beate A. Schücking. "The DHV and DSW want to make this commitment more visible with the 'Student of the Year' award by giving publicity to a particularly positive example of student commitment."
Both award organizers are calling for candidates to be nominated for the award by December 31, 2023. Interested parties can find more information in the following announcement text.
Previous winners were:
1. medical student Christoph Lüdemann from Witten/Herdecke University, who provided help for self-help in Rwanda and Sierra Leone through the association "L'appel Deutschland", which he helped to set up (2016),
2. the Spinelli Barracks Mannheim construction project supported by 16 architecture students from the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, in which they worked with refugees to design, plan and build a wooden pavilion on a former US military barracks site, which now serves as a meeting place and retreat for the residents of the initial reception facility (2017),
3. medical student Philipp Humbsch from Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Frankfurt/Oder. He is the originator and driving force behind the "Anyone can be a hero" initiative, which has been teaching first aid free of charge since 2016, particularly to primary school pupils in structurally weak areas of Brandenburg, while at the same time raising their awareness for further volunteer work in voluntary civil protection organizations (2018),
4. medical student Wiebke Gehm from the University of Rostock, leading member of the student initiative "TNA - Tommy nicht allein", in which students have been caring for patients in need at the Rostock Children's Hospital in their free time since 2015 (2019),
5. medical student Sagithjan Surendra from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, who is the founder and driving force behind the "Aelius Förderwerk", which has been supporting children and young people from non-academic homes, often with a migration background, on their educational path since 2017 through a broad range of non-material support (2020),
6. the "TechAcademy", a 20-strong group of students from Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, which promotes the digital skills of its fellow students from all departments and disciplines with free seminars (2021),
7. 15 students from the Catholic University of Applied Sciences North Rhine-Westphalia (katho) from the Department of Social Work in Aachen, who selflessly supported many of those affected by the flood of the century in Stolberg (2022),
8. seven students from different disciplines from Hanover, Berlin and Hamburg for founding and their outstanding commitment to the group "Hanover Helps e.V.". Immediately after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the student group started aid deliveries, collected donations, set up children's play areas in the reception halls on the Hanover exhibition grounds and distributed hundreds of packed school bags to needy schoolchildren in the Hanover region.
- The German Association of University Professors and Lecturers is the nationwide professional association of academics in Germany with over 33,500 members(http://www.hochschulverband.de).
- As the association of the 57 student unions in Germany, the German Studierendenwerk represents their interests as well as the socio-political concerns of students(https://www.studierendenwerke.de).
Mail from presse@hochschulverband.de from 24.10.2023